Covalent attachment of gold nanoparticles to DNA templates.

Functionalized gold nanoparticles have been covalently bound to internal, modified sites on double-stranded DNA. Gold nanoparticles coated with mercaptosuccinic acid or thioctic acid were bound to amino-modified thymine bases on double-stranded DNA. Visible absorption spectra, gel electrophoresis, and atomic force microscopy were used to analyze the products. Thiol groups were added to one end of the gold/nanoparticle product, which was then attached to a gold surface. This method has the potential to allow controlled placement of particles with subnanometer precision and to allow attachment of the product to fixed contacts for nanodevice fabrication.

Anion partitioning and ion-pairing behavior of anions in the extraction of cesium salts by 4,5' '-Bis(tert-octylbenzo)dibenzo-24-crown-8 in 1,2-dichloroethane.

A systematic study of anion partitioning and ion pairing was performed for an extraction of individual cesium salts into 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCE) using 4,5' '-bis(tert-octylbenzo)dibenzo-24-crown-8 as the cesium receptor. Equilibrium constants corresponding to the extraction of ion pairs and dissociated ions, formation of the 1:1 cesium/crown complex (confirmed by electrospray mass spectrometry), and dissociation of the ion pairs in water-saturated 1,2-DCE at 25 degrees C were obtained from equilibrium modeling using the SXLSQI program. The standard Gibbs energy of partitioning between water and water-saturated 1,2-DCE was determined for picrate, permanganate, trifluoromethanesulfonate, methanesulfonate, trifluoroacetate, and acetate anions. The dissociation of the organic-phase complex ion pair [Cs(4,4' '-bis(tert-octylbenzo)dibenzo-24-crown-8]+NO3- observed in the extraction experiments was shown to be consistent with the dissociation constant determined independently by conductance measurements. As attributed to the large effective radius of the complex cation, the evident anion discrimination due to ion pairing in the 1,2-DCE phase was relatively small, by comparison only a tenth of the discrimination exhibited by the anion partitioning. Only chloride and picrate exhibit evidence for significantly greater-than-expected ion-pairing tendency. These results provide insight into the inclusion properties of the clefts formed by opposing arene rings of the crown ether upon encapsulation of the Cs+ ion, whose weak anion recognition likely reflects the preferential inclusion of 1,2-DCE molecules in the clefts. Observed anion extraction selectivity in this system, which may be ascribed predominantly to solvent-induced Hofmeister bias selectivity toward large charge-diffuse anions, was nearly the same whether cesium salts were extracted as dissociated ions or ion pairs.